Cauliflower “Crack”

Vegetables.

We know we need to eat more of them, but really, how many of us get enough? An why is it so hard to eat more of them? Well this week, I give you this recipe that will have you clamoring for more… cauliflower.

Wait. What??

CAULIFLOWER?!? 

“Surely you jest,”you say. “I jest not,” say I. “Cauliflower.”

Cauliflower is, like many vegetables, misunderstood and usually mis-cooked. I just made that up: mis-cooked. Much like “misfiled” means you filed it, but in the wrong place, mis-cooked means you cooked it, but in the wrong place. People like to cook cauliflower in the wrong place. Steamers, microwaves, pots of boiling water (ick) are the usual instruments of the mis-cooking of cauliflower. The proper place to bring out the magical goodness of cauliflower is the oven.

Cauliflower Crack, will (I guarantee you) soon replace popcorn as your new ‘Favorite Movie Snack.’ Seriously, Orville and I have unapologetically put away two whole HEADS in a single evening. And we LOVE popcorn and make it in a MULTITUDE of delicious variations (in fact, I have a whole popcorn series coming up soon). But when the cauliflower is on sale, we load up on this amazing snack food and chow down! In fact, I had friends take this to super macho Super Bowl parties. they were met with jeers when they set out their bowl of Cauliflower Crack, only to be confronted by sheepish football fans not ten minutes later with an empty bowl asking for more! Yeah, it’s that good.

It’s so good, you won’t even want to bother making just one head at a time, because roasting two is just as easy, and your family will down two heads of cauliflower and then ask for MORE! Gotta love that.

Download Print Version!

Cauliflower “Crack”

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Servings: 4-8 servings | Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

1 or 2 heads cauliflower

Slicing saves time and makes for easier turning and even roasting

(c’mon, you might as well do two while you’re at it!)
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400º F.

Quarter the heads of cauliflower. Cut the core out of each quarter. Slice–yes, SLICE– the quarters into ¼ to ⅜ inch slices. [MUCH easier than separating all those florets!]

Toss this all together and spread it out.

Line baking sheets with foil for easy cleanup–you’ll need one half-sheet pan for each head of cauliflower. Pile one head on each pan, drizzle with 2-3 tbsp olive oil, toss to coat. Spread the slices into a single layer, and season liberally with Kosher salt and black pepper.

When it looks like this – it’s ready!

Roast in 400º oven for 35-45 minutes. At the 15 and 30 minute marks, rotate the pans up & down and front-to-back, and use tongs or a spatula to turn the pieces, mixing them around a bit for even roasting. They are done when they are caramel-y and browned like this…

Reserve 1 ½ cup of chopped roasted cauliflower for the base of my Naughty & Nice Macaroni & Cheese!

Taste a piece, give it a final sprinkle of salt  and pepper if needed and platter it up. Put it on the coffee table, start your movie night and watch in amazement as your family devours two heads of cauliflower (!) before the end. Notice how it gets even sweeter as it cools to room temperature–how does it DO that?

It’s like magic. Really. Guaranteed.